Brereton Carbon Project 5

Brereton Carbon Project 5 is a soil carbon project located in the Mid North region of South Australia, approximately 15km north of Gladstone and south of Wirrabara. Registered in December 2023, the project covers 180 hectares of agricultural land. The surrounding Mid North region is a prominent mixed farming zone, heavily utilized for broadacre cropping (wheat, barley, canola) and livestock grazing (sheep and cattle).

This project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models). This method credits landholders for increasing soil organic carbon levels through changes in land management activities. Specifically, this project focuses on applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address nutrient deficiencies and converting from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage practices. These activities aim to improve soil structure, reduce carbon loss from soil disturbance, and enhance biomass production to sequester more carbon.

The local environment features a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Annual rainfall in the Gladstone-Wirrabara area typically ranges between 400mm and 500mm. The soils in this region are predominantly Red-Brown Earths (Chromosols) and Calcarosols (calcareous soils), which are naturally fertile but can be susceptible to erosion and structure decline if over-tilled, making the project's shift to reduced tillage particularly beneficial for long-term soil health.

The project is developed by Agriprove Solutions, Australia's largest soil carbon project developer. Agriprove typically utilizes a "measure-model-measure" approach, employing satellite data and rigorous soil sampling to track carbon stocks. By addressing material nutrient deficiencies, the project not only aims to sequester carbon but likely seeks to boost the land's overall productivity and resilience against the region's variable rainfall.